The proximity of this grave made us
wonder how many more such unburied bodies there were along this river.
We thought too of our friend Smith, back in Cataract Canyon, and
wondered if we would hear from him again.
Our helpers got a lot of experience in motion-picture making the next
day, while we ran our boats through a number of good, strong rapids,
well known locally as the Salt Creek Rapid, Granite Falls or Monument
Rapid, the Hermit, the Bouchere, and others. This was all new to the
boys, and provided some thrilling entertainment for them. When a
difficult passage was safely made Bert would wave his hat and yell
"Hoo" in a deep, long call that would carry above the roar of the
rapids, then he and Ernest would follow along the shore with their
cameras, as these rapids all had a shore on one side or the other. The
sun shone on the river this day, and we congratulated ourselves on
having made the most of our opportunities.
In our first rapid the next morning, we had to carry our passengers
whether we wanted to or not. There was no shore on either side. In
such plunges they would lie down on the deck of the boat behind the
oarsman, holding to the raised bulkhead, ducking their heads when an
oncoming wave prepared to break over them. Then they would shake
themselves as a water-spaniel does, and Bert with a grin would say,
"Young fellows, business is picking up!"
Ernest agreed, too, that he had never seen anything in Pittsburg that
quite equalled it.
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